The Wonder in Alaska - September 2-9 2013

[Ellester]

It is hard to believe we have been back from our cruise for almost a month. It was fabulous, although not without a few hiccups. I enjoyed reading all the Alaska trip reports I could find before we sailed and I hope this one can be a help to those planning a trip. A little background: Several years ago, my mom announced that she wanted to take the family on a "once in a lifetime" trip to celebrate her 70th birthday in September 2013. Her family consists of me, my husband, and our four kids. She asked the kids for suggestions, saying the sky was the limit. The kids bounced around several different places around the world. Of course, we did have some practical considerations such as the ages of the kids (4 1/2-15), the health/mobility of my mom (two knee replacements in the past year plus a few other health issues), etc. My mom is very well traveled, at least in the Western Hemisphere. She has visited most of Europe, South America, and Canda over the past 25 years or so. England and Scotland were high on the kids' list as was Hawaii. Then it started getting down to the nitty gritty and my mom announced that she wanted ME to do all the planning. Now that sounds all fine and good but it was very stressful for me. I homeschool all four of our kids and that takes up LOTS of time, since I currently have a preschooler, elementary schooler, middle schooler, and high schooler. I love having them home, but it is a substantial amount of work. In addition, my mom was very tight lipped on a budget. On one hand, I would hear "money is no object" and "this should be something spectacular" and on the other hand, she would complain that she was spending money like crazy on house repairs and medical bills. I am an engineer by training and like things in black and white, so the budget thing was very stressful for me. And I know from plenty of prior experience that even though I am supposed to be the one in charge of planning, I won't do it right and will miss something or make a bad decision in her mind. I have been to Europe once, in high school, on a seven day/four country whirlwind tour (which my mom was also on). So basically I have zero experience planning a European vacation, much less one for 7 people from ages 4 to 70. Meanwhile, my mom is retired and has been to Europe at least 10 times. We ruled out Hawaii or other beach locales due to the fact that my mom cannot take a lot of sun exposure. I hadn't really considered a cruise as an option since a few years ago we did a four day on Carnival to celebrate my Dad's 70th and my dh did not have a good experience so I didn't think he would be willing to cruise again. Then last winter, my 15yo and I were talking about possible destinations while we were all out walking the dog and I mentioned how awesome a Disney cruise to Alaska would be. DH stunned me by saying that a cruise might actually be the best answer since the activities and meals would be preplanned. Well, I jumped on that and got quotes so I could have concrete numbers for my mom. She agreed and we booked the September 2nd Wonder sailing.

 

[Ellester]

Our Merry band of travelers: Me (Ellen) - as mentioned above I am a homeschooling mom of four, approaching my mid 40's, happily visiting WDW fairly regularly since 1973. DH (John) - My sweet hubby of 23+ years. A late comer to the Disney lovefest, he is very tolerant of my obsession and enjoys our trips. The kiddos - Anabelle (15), Rebecca (12), Andrew (9), and Natalie (4 1/2) This is from our trip last October to WDW. No trip report for this one, but we spent a great week at AKL-Kidani Village. My mom was also with us, but not in this picture. Grammy (Marcia) - The birthday girl, even though she didn't want any acknowledgment of her upcoming 70th while we were on board. Here is one with all of us.

 

[Ellester]

Saturday, 8/31
Today is the day!!!! Off to Canada and on to Alaska! We were up dark and early as our flight left Atlanta at 11:40am. Since it was an international flight, check in was 2 hours ahead. So up at 5 to be out of the house at 7, drive to my mom's house (about 15 minutes) then off to Atlanta (about 90 minutes). I had gotten parking at a Days Inn that provides a shuttle to the airport as part of the parking fee. It was much cheaper than any of the off-site parking garages, $4 a day versus $9+. I called the parking service (onestopparking.com) to make sure that the shuttle went to the international terminal as well as the domestic since the new international terminal is a totally separate building. The guy on the phone has assured me that the Days Inn shuttle also went to the international terminal (I think you can see where this is going). Well, lo and behold, when we get to the Days Inn, they only go to the domestic terminal. Sigh. Oh well. So we wait for the driver to go get the bigger shuttle since our party was 7 (which I had told them ahead of time as well) and there were several other people waiting too and the van he had driven over only seated 9. So a few minutes later we boarded the bigger bus to go to the domestic terminal where we got to off unload all our luggage to reload on the shuttle that goes from the domestic terminal to the international terminal. I was so glad I had given us plenty of time to get to the airport! It was a 10-15 minute ride to get to the new international terminal where we were greeted with two gate agents checking in a huge line of people for the only Air Canada flight leaving that morning. It took us about 45 minutes to get to the front of the line. For some reason, Air Canada makes you go through a gate agent even if you check in online and have no bags so every single person on the sold out flight to Toronto had to check in at the desk! We had ordered wheelchair assistance for my mom and after we finally got checked in we waited another 40 minutes for a wheelchair! It really was ridiculous. I ran up to get some coffee and snacks for the plane and we were the very last ones on. Frustrating to say the least considering how early we were at the airport, but we were on the plane and on our way!!! The flight was uneventful, it was Natalie's first flight and she was SO excited that she was getting a window seat. We got to our row and this is what we saw.



I was really over Air Canada by this point! But, thankfully the inflight entertainment thrilled Natalie with its touchscreen and ondemand capabilities so she wasn't all that disappointed.





We had a three hour layover in Toronto so we had plenty of time to go through customes, eat at Swiss Chalet, do a little shopping and board the flight for Vancouver.

Apparently Rebecca was overcome with monstrous hunger.



I tried the "poutine" with chicken. Looks much better than it tasted, unfortunately.




This flight was much longer and our window seats actually included windows this time! The entertainment was a hit again (I got to watch "Skyfall" and several episodes of "Big Bang Theory"). It did get a bit bumpy and Natalie got a bit cranky but overall another good flight. We landed around 7:30pm PST, which is like 10:30 EST so we were beginning to drag a bit. The attendant pushing my mom's wheelchair suggested running downstairs to the 7-11 to buy our Skytrain tickets since there were so many of us that we could buy a book of tickets for less than a one way trip for seven at the train platform. That was extremely painless and we were soon on the train with all our luggage headed for downtown. We had booked rooms at the Delta Vancouver Suites which is less than a block from the train station. Very convenient. Once we got off the train, one of Vancouver's many, many homeless people offered to walk us right to the hotel. I gave him a few dollars for his trouble and we were soon in our rooms (one on the 11th floor, one on the 6th). I had thought about using Hotwire and getting rooms at the Pan Pacific, but at the time the price was good we weren't sure my mom was actually going to be able to make the trip and since Hotwire is nonrefundable, I decided a room we could cancel would be the better decision. The rooms were nice, since we were in a "suite" there was a sliding screen door between the bedroom and the sitting room with the hidabed. We were so tired by this point we decided to just order a couple of kids' meals from room service and call it a night. By this time it was 9:30PST, so we had been up almost 20 hours. Natalie fell asleep before her dinner came, so John and I snacked on her chicken fingers and saved the fruit and juice in the room fridge for the morning. Andrew managed to stay awake long enough to eat his grilled cheese and fries. The big girls and my mom were in the other room and ended up not getting anything and calling it a night.

 

[DVC'96]

Can't wait to hear more. Subbing

 

[missmdr]

Subbin!

 

[Ellester]

Sunday, 9/1
First, let me say that we loved Vancouver! Such a beautiful city. The kids and John were trying to figure out how to move out there. Then we saw the real estate prices and quickly decided that was a pipe dream! Anyway, we all slept pretty well. Not surprisingly, we were up pretty early for the west coast. We were all up and dressed and very ready for breakfast by 8:30am. On a recommendation from the clerk at the hotel, we headed a few blocks away to a little place called Scoozi's. The breakfast menu was a bit different but everything we had was delicious. John, Rebecca and Anabelle had the eggs Benedict (Anabelle without the ham since she is mostly meat-free). I had a breakfast "deep dish" which was kind of like a cross between and omelet and quiche. Very, very tasty and it stayed hot throughout the meal. Very unusual for an egg dish! Andrew and my mom had traditional egg/bacon dishes. My mom shared with Natalie and we also got a huge cinnamon roll which was delicious (although my mom was not happy with the raisins they snuck in there!). The coffee was fantastic! Breakfast took a little while, but we enjoyed the chance to sit and start to savor our vacation!

After breakfast, we had some time before 11:30 Mass at the Cathedral. My mom was getting tired of walking so she and Natalie sat in the park across from the Cathedral. Natalie chased pigeons while my mom rested. The rest of us walked a few blocks to just check out the city.

Holy Rosary Cathedral





Chilling the park





My urban girls!





After Mass we stopped at a 7-11 for Slurpees and some snacks. For some strange reason, there are no 7-11's in Georgia although they seem to be on every corner in most other states so a Slurpee is a special treat for us! John was holding out for a bubble tea which he was happy to find right down the street. We headed back to the hotel to rest for a few minutes and decide what to do next.

Lay's Potato chips had a bunch of regional flavors over the summer. Down here in Georgia, we had "Chicken & Waffle" flavor and "Siracha" flavor. In Vancouver, Anabelle found "Loaded Pierogie" flavor! My husband's family is Slovak and pierogies are a holiday treat, his dad makes them from scratch. Delicious! The chips weren't bad, they tasted suspiciously like "Loaded Baked Potato" flavor. Andrew tried the "Ketchup" flavor, not a hit with any of us.

Pierogie = Good!



Ketchup = Bad!




We ended up deciding to head to Chinatown. First we bought two-day tickets on the Big Bus hop-on/hop-off tour. Because of the route, we decided to walk to Chinatown and explore and then pick up the bus there. My mom wasn't sure she could walk all that way so she took a cab with Natalie and Andrew and met us in Chinatown. We shopped a bit and visited the gardens.

Chinatown Gate




Free part of the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Gardens



My mom got the three older kids little Chinese necklaces with their birth year animal and I bought Anabelle a little watercolor scroll with a panda on it. She has loved pandas since she was tiny and still sleeps with a stuffed panda her grandparents got her at the Atlanta Zoo some 13 years ago! Next we decided to get something to eat since it was getting close to 3pm. The only restaraunt we saw close by was Floata Seafood which was a very scary elevator ride up three floors. The place was huge and had a large dim sum menu. We were very excited until they told us that since it was 3pm, most of the menu was unavailable. We ended up ordering several things and enjoyed most everything. The service was terrible though. We had to ask for water several times, never got the rice we ordered, etc. But at least we weren't starving anymore!






We stopped for a few treats at the Chinese bakery on the way out.



John took Andrew and Anabelle to see the Jimi Hendrix shrine which was a few blocks away. Andrew plays guitar and saw an ad for the shrine on one of the tourist maps so he was eager to check it out. It was several blocks so too far for my mom and Rebecca really wanted to stop in a shop we had passed so we went that way instead. Sadly, Andrew returned grumpy with the news that the shrine appears to be permanently closed, or at least closed for the season.




But on the plus side, I got a really cute 2010 Olympics shirt for Natalie for $2.99! She also got a little Chinese fan that she adored and Andrew got a Vancouver baseball hat to add to his immense collection.




We headed to the Big Bus stop and in a few minutes an open topped bus arrived and we hopped on. Since it was nearing the end of the day's run, we decided to just ride the bus around the whole route and get off at the stop closest to the hotel. We got a good overview of Vancouver and thankfully the driver did not ACTUALLY hit the two pedestrians but man, it was close! He also almost took off the door of a truck. We began to realize that all the honking we were hearing might be related to his lack of driving ability!

Bubble Tea Stand! (we didn't stop here)



Views from the HOHO bus!





These guys all had life jackets on for some reason that day, when we passed them again after the cruise the jackets were off. Guess they learned to swim?



My MIL's name is Sylvia, so I took this for her!



Giant tree on top of a building




Andrew is not a fan of the candid shot.



Crossing to Granville Island




By the time we got back to the stop near the hotel, it was nearing 7pm and we were feeling bit peckish. We stopped by a couple of places in Gastown, but they only had seating outside available and it was a bit chilly for our Southern selves. We ended up just having sandwiches at Tim Horton's right by the hotel. Everything was surprisingly tasty and really hit the spot. We knew after getting on the ship the next day we wouldn't be lacking for food, so a light dinner was just fine! My mom headed back to the hotel and the rest of us took a little walk down to the corner to get some iced coffee. I had wanted to try Blenz, which seems to be a chain in Vancouver. Honestly, without sushi bars and coffee shops, Vancouver storefronts would be half vacant! We got some icy decaf coffee beverages and some very tasty gluten free cookies the barrista recommended. The coffee was good, but my iced mocha was SO sweet and rich. I actually put 2/3 of if it the room fridge and thinned it with black coffee in the room the next morning and it was STILL too sweet (and I have a sweet tooth of massive proportions!) We headed back to the hotel, got the little ones showered and settled into the hidabed and tried to get some sleep before boarding in the morning!

 

[topsy]

Yay you've started! Now I get to re-live our cruise through you!

 

[Rai's Mommy]

Subscribing. Great report so far! Looking forward to reading more in anticipation of our cruise to Alaska next August

 

[Ellester]

Monday, Sept. 2

Hurray, hurray! It's sailing day!!! We were all up bright and early. A combination of excitement and jet lag made sleeping in impossible! As I was getting ready, the phone rang and Rebecca told me that she couldn't find her phone anywhere and did I have it. Rebecca is notorious for misplacing things and I did not have a good feeling. I almost immediately figured that she left it on the Big Bus the night before. Texting was free for us in Canada so she did have her phone with her while we were out and about. So I decided to go ahead and call the Big Bus people. It was right at 8:00am on a holiday (Canada celebrates Labor Day the same day the US does) so I was not sure anyone would answer. But someone did right away and when I asked if anyone had found a phone, she asked "Does it have a cute little Hello Kitty charm on it?" Bingo! She had it right there and said she would send it to their big kisok at Canada Place and it would be there by 11:00am so we could get it when we got to the Port. Phew!

Excitement!




We headed back to Tim Horton's for breakfast since we knew where it was and we knew it would be quick and cheap. We enjoyed donuts, egg paninis, and coffee and headed back to the hotel to pack up and head to the Port.






We had a 11:00-11:30 boarding time and were anxious to get on board. We had originally planned on getting one cab for my mom and what luggage would fit and the rest of us walking the few blocks to the Port, but the morning was rainy so we decided to take two cabs instead. The concierge quickly got us two cabs and loaded us up and we were off! We were at the Port within 10 minutes and it was hopping! While John oversaw the unloading of the cabs and getting my mom a wheelchair, Rebecca and I headed up to street level to get her phone. We easily found the kiosk and the guy at the desk had no clue whatsoever about a phone and was not really helpful. He did look around and then called the office but really didn't give us much of an option other than waiting there until 2. Umm, sorry, we have a vacation to start and waiting around at a kiosk for 3 hours is not on the agenda.

At least I got some nice shots of the Wonder from outside the kiosk.







By this time my mom was having Anabelle text me about every 30 seconds wanting to know where were, if we were on our way back, when were we going to be there, etc. My mom has no patience with Rebecca and was very upset with her for losing her phone. Not helping my stress level much. I contemplated just calling Verizon and telling them the phone was lost and to cancel the number till we got back but I couldn't get through to them right away. By then John had come up to see what was up since my mom was driving him crazy. I told him he needed to talk to the guy because I had about had it with him. Meanwhile the texts from my mom via Anabelle were still coming in fast and furious. It was finally determined that the phone was somewhere in Burnaby (somewhere just east of the city) but they didn't know exactly where or when it would be there. Ugh. We decided to head back down to the boarding area and figure it out from there. My mom had gotten a wheelchair and a person to push it, she obviously didn't have much experience with wheelchairs and had a very hard time maneuvering it. She also didn't speak English very well and didn't understand most of my mom's instructions or questions further frustrating my mom. Rebecca was beside herself by this point, thinking she was ruining the trip (and my mom was not making her feel any better). One of the Port employees came to talk to me to see what she could do and when I told her the whole saga, she took me to one of the Disney managers at the Port. He assured me that we could get back off the ship if need be to get the phone, we would just have to go through security again. That didn't sound too bad, until we saw how long the security line was! We decided to go ahead and go through security and figure it out on the other side. My mom was separated from us at this point and went through security/customs on her own (with her transporter). They would only allow three of us to accompany her so we decided we would keep the kids all together with us and just see her when we were done. Honestly, the kids were about over Grammy by this point with her harping on Rebecca about the phone so they were more than happy to stay with us. The Golden Princess was also boarding so there were tons of people in the line. They eventually opened the "non-US/Canandian citizen" side for us since the line was backing up to the metal detectors. We got through and went to check in with the Disney folks. Lots of paper shuffling and passport finding, but we got all checked in and got our Keys. John went to talk to someone about the phone issue while I took Natalie to wait in line to see Minnie!!



Minnie of course made a big deal over my shirt and Natalie's dress. Natalie's smile was so big! And then John came back with the great news that a Disney Port employee volunteered to walk back up to the kiosk and see what was up since she wouldn't have to go through security. Things were looking up!



I went over to get the kid's signed up for their clubs. We had preregistered so it was a very quick procedure to get bands for Andrew and Natalie. By now they had called our group to board and my mom was back at it chiding us to get going. Happily, John walked up with Rebecca's phone in hand at that point! Crisis averted!

Finally getting on the ship!



The girl pushing my mom about toppled the chair two or three times on the way up the gangplank. Finally, another CM came to help and they backed her up the rest of the way. She got up out of the chair at that point and walked on to the ship since the wheelchair needed to stay at the Port. They announced our names and we were in! And immediately my mom went to complain to one of the officers about the skill of her pusher. (This will be an ongoing theme, I am sad to say.) We took in the beauty of the lobby and then I headed to guest services to make sure I knew where to go to get Palo and tasting reserved.

 

[Ellester]

Subscribing. Great report so far! Looking forward to reading more in anticipation of our cruise to Alaska next August

Thanks! You are going to have such a great trip! Truly awe inspiring!

Yay you've started! Now I get to re-live our cruise through you!

I feel the same way about your report!

Can't wait to hear more. Subbing

Subbin!

Thanks! I'll try to get some more up this week!

 

[Ellester]

I headed to Wavebands while the rest of the group headed to Parrot Cay for lunch. John came and found me in Wavebands to tell me they had gone up to Beach Blanket Buffet because Parrot Cay was totally full. He stayed while I finished getting a Palo brunch ressie for three on Tracy Arm day. John did not bring any dress pants but they said they would send a pair for him to wear (more on that later). I had already gotten reservations for Mixology, Chocolate & Beverage, and Margarita/Tequila tastings. Mission accomplished, we headed to meet the group on deck 9 at BBB. We found the kids at a table and my mom was being led around by Kerry Jean, one of the dining room managers, and a chef to see what she could have from the buffet. She has an allergy to capacin, which is in all kinds of bell and chili peppers. She is OK with black pepper, which is from a different plant altogether but she can't have paprika, cayenne, jalapenos, green peppers, pimentos, etc. Kerry Jean was great and got her all fixed up. The line was so long and the kids were already eating so I just got some very tasty fried rice from the station at the end of the buffet. They assured me that it had its own line, so I wasn't cutting anyone by just going there. I did find the drinks to be hard to get since they were right at the end of the big buffet and you pretty much just had to butt in to get a refill. It was crowded, but it was nice outside so many people were able to head out to the deck to eat. Later in the week, the outdoor seating was not as comfortable. As Anabelle noted, "eggs get cold really fast when you are eating outside in the rain and it's 50 degrees out". Anyway, it was now getting close to 2pm so we headed to deck 6 to see if our rooms were ready and they were! John, Natalie, Andrew and I were in 6546 and my mom, Anabelle, and Rebecca were in 6544 which was connecting.

6546



Checking out the veranda and the crowds at Canada Place (some boys kept waving at Rebecca, she was smitten!).



6544



We were very happy with the rooms although a major argument began to brew about who got to sleep on the top bunk. Natalie was VERY excited to sleep on top and was willing to trade off with Andrew. But Andrew is an all or nothing kind of guy and was proclaiming that he wanted the top all week. John put the kibosh on the whining and it was decided (with Andrew's agreement) that Natalie could have it. I asked the room steward if he could put an additional rail up for Natalie and he said he would try but that it was very difficult to get the toddler rail on the top bunk. He did get it on and I will say that it was really wedged in there. It was a battle every night to get the sheets untucked on that side enough for Natalie to actually get under the covers! We headed to the various kids clubs for the open houses so the kids could see them and meet the councilors. Natalie loved the Oceaneers Club and the playground in there. We checked out the Vibe for Anabelle. There were only 27 teens registered on the whole ship but they were hopefully that a few would show up. Anabelle was happy to see that Ruth, one of the counselors, was actually taller than she was! Anabelle is almost 5'11" and is easily the tallest of all her girlfriends and most of her guy friends. As a tall lady myself (I am 5'11"), I know how unusual it is to find a female as tall if not taller than I am! We then met up with John and Rebecca in the Edge. Rebecca thought it was OK, but as expected was jealous that she couldn't go to the Vibe with Anabelle. Anabelle promised to let her come to the open houses and to spend some free time with her throughout the week and that mollified her somewhat.

Chilling in the Edge






It was nearing time for the DISmeet and I realized that I could not find my paper with the meeting particulars on it anywhere! I never did find it. I think I gave it to the CM at the Port when we checked in. I checked with guest services to see if they knew where the meet might be, but since it wasn't an official event they didn't know. So, sadly, we missed it. I had the information on our recipe exchange separate, so at least we could still do that! Natalie and Andrew wanted to swim and we figured that this was the best chance they would have so they changed into their suits and we headed to the Mickey pool on 9. Natalie enjoyed splashing around and Andrew got to go down the slide several times. I sat down and flagged a server for the drink of the day, a Nautilis. The server was new, she didn't know what all was in the drink. I really didn't care as long as it didn't have anything peachy in it since I don't like peaches. She knew it didn't have that so I went ahead and ordered. When she returned with my drink, she sheepishly told me that she was supposed to have taken my key card with her to ring it up and could I please give it to her now. Guess she was really, really new! I handed over my card and enjoyed my first fruity drink of the trip! Very tasty, now I was feeling like I was on vacation!

A light pool crowd. No "people soup" on an Alaska voyage!




Andrew really wanted to try the Goofy pool, so I had Anabelle and Rebecca promise to keep an eagle eye on Natalie (there were only a few kids in the pool, nothing like the "pool soup" videos I have seen) and walked Andrew over. It was only 3:30 or so, but they had already closed the Goofy pool for the muster drill. Or maybe it hadn't even been open yet, I'm not really sure. But in any case it was not open so we went back to the Mickey pool to tell the girls I was taking Andrew up to the sports deck to check that out. He played basketball for a few minutes and then we met up with John and the girls and headed to station E for the drill.

 

[Ellester]

My mom met us there and they found her a seat on a lifejacket chest so she didn't have to stand for the whole thing. I enjoyed talking to a young couple from Scotland next to us, I love those accents! After the drill I asked a CM what we did the event of an emergency if the kids were in the clubs. She was impressed that I was actually paying attention and assured me that the councilors would get the kids who were not immediately picked up to their proper muster stations. We took the kids back to the room to change out of their suits and headed up to the sailaway party. Our luggage was already in front of our rooms so we dragged all 8 pieces in. My mom headed up to deck 9 on her own to give herself plenty of time. By the time we got up there it was already going. We did get to see the characters come down and dance, but it was close! Next time I'll know to go ahead and go right after the drill.

Guess it was the Island Princess, not the Golden Princess. I think it was the Golden Princess we saw in Skagway later in the week.



Love the floating gas station!






John and I had the pina colada/strawberry daiquiri mix they were serving at the party and the girls all got non-alcoholic versions. Andrew doesn't like coconut so he skipped it. We didn't find my mom until after the party but it sounded like she had a good view and got a pompom for Natalie. We went up to deck 10 to watch us sail out of the harbor and go under the Lion's Gate bridge. So beautiful!






Andrew and Natalie wanted to go play in the Oceaneers club so we headed back down there and let them run for a little while. Rebecca stayed and played with them as well. She was eligible for both the Oceaneer Club and the Edge on this trip. She mostly stayed with the Edge but she did play with Natalie in the Oceaneer Club a few times. She is a good sister! Anabelle had headed back to the Vibe see if anyone had shown up. We picked her up there at 5:30 and headed to Animator's Palette for our first dinner! We met our servers, Anthony from Jamaica and Kadek from Indonesia. Nick was our head server and he came over to talk to my mom about her allergies. I had the Ahi Tuna Tartare, the Smoked Salmon and Trout salad, and on Anthony's recommendation, the Lemon-Thyme Marinated Chicken. I enjoyed it all. The chicken was a bit dry, but the mashed potatoes and the root vegetables were SO delicious I would have enjoyed just them! I had the Apple Crumble for dessert which was also very good. My mom ended up with the Salmon in Phyllo which she enjoyed but it didn't come out until the rest of us were ready for dessert. Nick asked that she look at the next evening's menu to preorder so that she would get her food quicker. Everyone else enjoyed their meals. I won't go into detail describing everything since there were so many of us, I will only mention something if it was really extraordinary.

Quick view of Sorcerer Mickey as he ran by!



Warm chocolate pudding off the kids' menu.




We headed back to the room for a few minutes before the show. John and the girls weren't too excited about the show, but we all decided to go. We sat close to the top so my mom wouldn't have to go down too many stairs. We enjoyed the sailaway show, browsed the shops for a few minutes and headed to the room for our first night at sea.


Cute swan and box with DVC Lanyards and certificate for a DVC/DCL pin.

 

[wiigirl]

Following along!

 

[teatah]

Great report! Can't wait to read the rest.

 

[twindaddy]

Subbing in and loving it! Wow, your mom sounds so similar to my mother in law! We love them but wow they can ruin the mood of a room in no time flat.

Glad you daughter found her phone...

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

I've always wanted to go to Alaska. I can't wait to hear all about your cruise.

 

[Ellester]

Following along!

Great report! Can't wait to read the rest.

Welcome aboard! I've gotten almost everything written out, now it's a matter of cutting and pasting!

Subbing in and loving it! Wow, your mom sounds so similar to my mother in law! We love them but wow they can ruin the mood of a room in no time flat.

Glad you daughter found her phone...

I was never so happy to see a phone in all my life! Poor Rebecca takes a lot from my mom.... Like you said, I do love her. But it isn't always easy!

I've always wanted to go to Alaska. I can't wait to hear all about your cruise.

I hope you get there someday, it truly is amazing! Thanks for following along!

 

[Ellester]

Tuesday, 9/3

Several times throughout the night, I woke to hear the fog horn sounding. It was actually a soothing sound and I fell right back asleep each time. Two things really helped with sound sleeping this trip. The first which I read about on the boards, was a clothes pin. I used it to fasten the curtains closed and it stayed really dark in our room. The second was a white noise app that I downloaded on my iPad. I knew I would want something to mask the sounds of the ship, the kids sleeping in our room (Andrew is a notoriously loud sleeper, he has whole conversations with himself.), the sounds in the hall, etc. It worked fabulously. The bed was super comfy as well. The comfort did not keep me from waking up by 6:00am though (9:00am EST). I tried to be as quiet as possible as I got dressed and got the laundry together. The kids did wake up as I was rummaging around though. I tried to get them to be quiet, which was a losing battle so John was soon up as well. I headed to the laundry room and got three loads started, I had gotten clothes from the other room the evening before. I always travel with a folding hamper so I just lugged it down the hallway to the laundry room. I had brought detergent pods and dryer sheets so I only had to pay for the washer and dryer. The washer cycle was only 27 minutes, so it wasn't long before things were ready for the dryer. The dryer cycle was longer, so I ran up to get some breakfast with the kids at BBB. I got back in time to get our stuff out of the dryer. Not many using the laundry at 8:00am on the first day of the cruise! Laundry was all done by 9 so my mom and I headed up to the DVC Member Celebration. We enjoyed some champagne and got some goodies and were tempted with the Grand Floridian Villas but we will stick with our 200 points at Saratoga Springs for now! My mom won two shirts from the real Saratoga, NY that some members from that area had brought. She also got a DVC tumbler and we both got portfolios, lanyards, and a bunch of hats. I'm not sure what John and the kids did during this time but we all met up for the 10:30 showing of Monsters University. John, Rebecca, and my mom had not seen it yet. We all enjoyed it for the first or second time. We had no trouble getting good seats at 10:10 but by 10:25 it was packed! We had not seen it in 3D the first time, so that was fun. We were still full from breakfast, but we did run up to deck 9 to get everyone sodas for the movie. Andrew really wanted to see the Route 66 area. He is big on geography and he was excited to see the map on the carpet. we had to follow it to the end!





We decided to try Triton's for lunch which worked out being much easier than BBB even though it did take a while. I had the halibut which was delicious!

Andrew is a big fan of bacon cheeseburgers!



Service was really slow, so much so that we had to leave for our 2:00 Mixology class before our key lime pie arrived. I took Andrew and Natalie up to the Oceaneers Club. The big girls waited for their dessert and then went to their own clubs. Our Triton's servers brought out our pies to go, so the girls dropped them by the room after they finished up. We had a few bites for a snack later in the day and determined it was pretty good pie, not the best ever but tasty. Oh, and a magical moment occurred when I was walking Natalie out of the side door of Triton's to head to the restroom. Cinderella was passing by after the Princess gathering and stopped to give Natalie a huge hug! It was so fast that I didn't even get a chance to get my camera out. But it sure made Natalie's day!

 

[Ellester]

So, on to Mixology! I was really looking forward to this tasting. My mom and I had gone to Guest Services earlier to make sure they weren't going to do lots of sugary drinks. Mom is diabetic and wanted to make sure it wasn't going to be all daquries and mudslides! The CM called the Cadillac Lounge and found out mom should be OK. So off we went to the Cadillac Lounge! Jesus was our fearless bartender/teacher. There were four very tasty looking drinks set in front of us.



They were still working on the final drink when we sat down, soon there were five drinks!




Jesus explained the process of making and designing cocktails and gave us some interesting tidbits along the way. Most were courtesy of his "friend, Google". He was hilarious and I did learn quite a bit. The prepared drinks were a Bahama Mama, Long Island Iced Tea, Cosmo, Mudslide, and B-52. They drew a name from the ticket stubs to come make a drink behind the bar and my name was chosen! With Jesus' help, I came up with a tasty green drink made from vodka, rum, Apple Pucker, Midori liqueur, and sour mix. After Jesus quipped that it looked like I had made a drink or two before, I joked that with four kids I needed some kind outlet! The group decided the drink should be named "Mom with Four Kids" and a few times later in the trip people mentioned it to me!






I also noticed that a few in the class had name cards from the DIS meet group and told them I was sorry I missed the meet. They told me who had the name cards and luckily I still had the room information for our recipe exchange so I planned on leaving a note for our fearless leader to see if I could get our tags. During the tasting, Jesus' assistant, Richard said "whale" and pointed out the window. We all immediately turned our heads and were able to see our first whale spume of the trip! Richard said if you ever want to see something funny, go up to deck 9 or 10 and yell "WHALE" and watch everyone run to the rail! We picked up Andrew and Natalie from the club and headed to the room to relax on the veranda and rest up before dinner.

We really enjoyed just looking off the veranda. I don't know that we would enjoy one as much if all that was out there was ocean, but there was ALWAYS something to see in Alaska!



Andrew, Natalie and I left for dinner a few minutes early to deliver a few of the recipes we had brought for the exchange. We stopped by our leaders' door and she and her daughter were just leaving so we got to meet and get our name tags. She also gave me another copy of the groups' activities. Anabelle had spent the afternoon in the Vibe and really enjoyed the Video Scavenger hunt. Dinner tonight was in Parrot Cay with the Golden Mickeys menu. We headed down a little early to partake in the Welcome Reception and see Mickey decked out for the show.



I have some silly girls!






I had the swordfish, which was pretty good but not the best ever. John and I both thought the food got progressively better as the cruise went on. Natalie really enjoyed her strawberry sundae though!



My mom finally getting her dinner, as we were finishing dessert. This became a major issue as the trip continued.



Rebecca turned 12 right before the trip, so her birthday was one of the celebrations that night.



We stopped in the shops briefly before the Golden Mickeys, but made sure we got to the theater early to get a good seat although we would have been fine later since we were more concerned with sitting higher up so my mom wouldn't have to climb much. We enjoyed the show (not Andrew's favorite, he's not a showtune guy) and then went back to the shops. I asked if the 2013 Alaska merchandise was going to be on sale any time during the cruise (some was marked down, most was not) and was told ALL Alaska merchandise was 40% off whether it was marked 2013 or not. Well then! I got scrapbook stuff, a Tervis tumbler, Alaska pins for each kid (we always get them a pin of our resort when we are at WDW), and Andrew picked out the Alaska plush set of Goofy, Donald, and Mickey. Natalie grabbed the last Alaska Minnie on display which sent Andrew into a tizzy. He is somewhat OCD and not having Minnie would mean he did not have the COMPLETE set. Oh the horror! We asked and the CM said there were none in the back. Andrew spent the rest of the evening conspiring how to convince Natalie to give him the Minnie. Thankfully, my mom asked a different CM after we left and Fernando was great and said he would check another storeroom in the morning and let her know. (Spoiler alert: He did find another Minnie and Andrew's cruise was saved!!!) My mom had been getting a bucket of ice refilled by our steward each day. I called room service to see if we could get some ice and they brought some in a non-insulated plain white bucket! It had a towel under it to soak up condensation and plastic wrap on the top! Not sure what was up with that, I just wanted a regular ice bucket like they had next door. I didn't get any more ice the rest of the trip, it was just kind of weird!

A dinosaur was our pet for the night.



Andrew took it apart and couldn't figure out how to reassemble it, so he made a towel "sushi roll" for us!



I actually ran down and did another load of laundry since I didn't have all of Anabelle's stuff that morning. Laundry done, we turned on the white noise app and off to dreamland we sailed.

 

[Goofy442]

Great trip report, we are trying to figure out what kind of cruise to take for next year.